[winter.zed]

Wasn't too happy with the original factory shifter in my Boxster, so I ordered one from Suncoast the other day, and installed it today.
The video we all know from Youtube was very useful, but I took my own take on it, and put together a document.
A lot of pictures, very little text, but as the proverb says: one picture is worth...
Unfortunately I can not upload the pdf to this site, so I put it in a public Dropbox folder. Feel free to use it any way you want.

Also installed the Rennline phone mount. Don't really need it, but sometimes I want to use Google maps instead of the Carplay stuff, so I need a phone hanging out on the center console. The only additions I have to the Rennline instructions is how to route the phone cable behind the head unit for a cleaner look, and the fact that I painted black the little visible part of the aluminum pressure "ball".

Enjoy, and ask away if you have any questions. May not answer them same day, but I will - eventually.

Link to instructions: [link redacted; expired Dropbox URL]

I am very happy with the new shifter. It is a big difference. At least for me. Not too "notchy" at all, very precise. Exactly as it was supposed to be. Considering that one can spend hundreds of dollars on really silly things on this car, this is the best spent CAD400 so far.

 

[hkginlax]

Great writing and photos. Thank you. Other than the video you mentioned. I also found the following video in the Numeric Racing website and the instruction is very similar to yours.

https://numericracing.com/documentation/

 

[JakiChan]

In a couple of months you'll be able to use Google Maps on CarPlay...

 

[winter.zed]

In a couple of months you'll be able to use Google Maps on CarPlay...

Yes. I found out about that after I ordered the mount.

I did not use it too much since I put it in, anyway. (the mount)
The left side is a very bad position for it. Makes the "next" and "previous" buttons totally inaccessible when the phone is on the mount. Even the "volume" knob is hard to get to. I don't have those buttons on the steering wheel, so I have to use the ones on the PCM unit.
Oh, well - may just move it to the right side and forgo the use of the cup holder.
That being said - the shifter is still great. Worth the money!

 

[Wine.O]

This is amazing! Can't thank you enough for the level of detail you put into this. My 19BS shows up in about a month and I'm going to try to get the dealership to install as a thank you present at delivery. If I end up doing it myself though, this is going to be invaluable. A few quick questions: Does the leather shifter boot need any trimming or does it look fine even w/ the shortened height to the knob? Does the radio / head unit need to be removed if you're not installing the phone mount as well? Other than the shortened lever, are there other differences in the SSK? I thought I read somewhere that it was spring loaded... not sure I'd think it a great idea to change the shift force beyond the shortened lever. Thanks again!

 

[ZuffenHouseRules]

My 19BS shows up in about a month and I'm going to try to get the dealership to install SSK as a thank you present at delivery.

Congrats from another Boxster S.

copied from prior post:
I drove the factory-installed short shifter on my 987 (they had it as a factory option then) for 12 years. The 718 shifter feels no different that I can tell apart from a bit smoother and precise....the absence of a factory-approved short-shifter for 718 tells me they engineered most of the differences away. Be that as it may, balking at slotting into reverse *or* grabbing reverse instead of first as you describe, seems like a separate issue from the height of shifter or length of throw. I suspect you had a mis-adjusted shift linkage/assembly that the kit installation happened to fix.

Note to Forum manual drivers: I checked into the short-shifter kit offered by Suncoast, and even with dealer installation it is not factory-authorized or covered under warranty. Otherwise I'd have had it installed myself just for whatever small increment of improvement it offers.

Understand others will still do so, have no problem with that, but info above important....

 

[winter.zed]

This is amazing! Can't thank you enough for the level of detail you put into this. My 19BS shows up in about a month and I'm going to try to get the dealership to install as a thank you present at delivery. If I end up doing it myself though, this is going to be invaluable. A few quick questions: Does the leather shifter boot need any trimming or does it look fine even w/ the shortened height to the knob? Does the radio / head unit need to be removed if you're not installing the phone mount as well? Other than the shortened lever, are there other differences in the SSK? I thought I read somewhere that it was spring loaded... not sure I'd think it a great idea to change the shift force beyond the shortened lever. Thanks again!

Some quick answers:
1. No trimming needed. The leather boot is fine. If you don't know how the original install looked, you'd think this IS the original install.
2. Yes head unit needs to come out. Otherwise you can't remove the main centre console part. No big deal, very straight-forward. No two connectors on the radio are the same, so nothing to mess-up. If they are the same shape, they are color-coded.
3. The "spring loaded" part is not in the shifter you replace. All this SSK is - is a shorter stick in a smaller plastic box. It comes as a kit only because it can not be disassembled any further. Even the bushings are the same as the stock unit.
It still feels way better though. I have almost 10k KM with it already (I drive a lot...) and it is still waaay better than stock.


It requires a bit more force to operate because the stick is 1 inch shorter. Pure physics, nothing more.



As for warranty - if one is at least a bit mechanically inclined - it is a very easy install, nothing to mess up, aside from not putting on the red plastic piece to center the shifter before attaching the 2 rods (the one I forgot to take a picture of... - and I added the picture later). If you miss that, you will not break anything, it will just be impossible to use half the gears, and the other half will have really short throws

 

[splinter]

Your documentation is an exceptionally well done DIY.



Thank you.

 

[Wine.O]

Seems like the link to the instruction pdf has gone dead. Could you possibly re-post. (Or send to me directly?)
Thanks so much.

 

[RotorOver]

Since winter.zed's Goggle Doc no longer appears to be available, thought I'd add a few discovers from my GT4 Shifter install that I didn't see mentioned in the youtube/install guides I saw.

- The radio head unit screen didn’t have enough slack in the connecting cabling to simply lay it to the side of the console as shown in the numeric video (991), so I rigged a few zip ties together and suspended the unit from the BlendMount, no issues there. Much easier than disconnecting and reconnecting. My guess would be you will add an extra 45 min to the job based on the number and position.

- There are two zip ties/zip tie mounts, one at the front and one at the rear of the shifter, holding a wiring bundle that goes back to the hazard lights and switch consoles. I found if you insert an exacto blade in the looping mechanism and press it, it will release without having to cut them.

- When op checking your switches after install, the heated seating will not come on unless the car is started. Everything else on the console came on under ignition power (of course, option dependent).

 

[Viffermike]

Just a programming note from your friendly neighborhood Moderator:

The above issue is one of several reasons why I do not recommend using Dropbox as a way to link material of any sort to a public forum.

This forum is a resource for participants and owners -- long after someone may or may not let a Dropbox (or similar) account lapse, or may (or may not) have their Dropbox (or similar) hacked, or may (or may not) unwittingly delete posted material from a filled-to-the-brim Dropbox (or similar) account, etc., etc., etc.

PLEASE do NOT use Dropbox or any other pay-to-store services to link to materials, photos, etc. I and the current (and future) membership of 718Forum.com thank you in advance.

 

[JazzCatGab]

Just to add to the above tutorial suggestions, if you want to be particularly precise, put the red centering mechanism on the old stick before unbolting and unhooking the linkage, and then when you drop in the SSK with the red centering mechanism reattached, bolt it in, and reattach the linkage, that linkage will be exactly as it was when taken out.
Another point, it took me over an hour to do this because everything in my car was in there so tight it was difficult to unassemble, and more than a little unnerving. But as our British friends say, "Carry on" and all will be well with a little care. BTW, I wish I had remembered @RotorOver's tip about the wire ties, I forced them out from the bottom but there was enough of the shredded stems to align them back in the holes, although mine aren't secured.